SKLT
by Kaiju Alpha
Summary: Scarlet. Cobalt. Lavender. Topaz. These four girls represent the next generation of Huntresses. For Skarlet, to become the greatest Huntress in Remnant, for Kobalt strive to protect those closest to her, for Lavender to walk in her mother's footsteps and for Topazu, to make sure nobody suffers as she did. They are the daughters of RWBY. These are their legends. AU continuty.
1. Scarlet Trailer

SKLT: Skarlet

 _We all make promises in our lives. Whether we fulfill them or not is a different story._

"Hey, Mom?"

Huntress Ruby Rose looked down at her ten-year-old, a spitting image of her at a young age except with piercing red eyes as opposed to silver as they stood in front of the gravemarker of her own mother and her daughter's grandmother Summer Rose.

"Yes, Skarlet?"

"What was Grandma Summer like?"

The black/red haired beauty chuckled. "What _wasn't_ she like? Best cookie chef in Remnant, grade-A mom and Huntress you name it."

"Was she a better Huntress than you?"

Ruby gave Skarlet a mock glare, "What kind of question is that to ask of your mom? But yes, she was a great Huntress. Brave, noble, self-sacrificing, dedicated."

"You think I could be a great Huntress?"

Ruby looked at her only daughter, the one thing left to her after the passing of her husband as a vision took root.

 _A young woman stands a top a frozen peak, her red cape flapping in the wind and long red and black-tipped hair blowing freely. Her booted feet are planted on the snow-covered ground. At her side is a boxy-looking weapon attached to a magnet just above her belt. From her view, the woman scans the horizon with piercing red eyes. Unfortunately, she is not watching behind her as growls and the gnashing of teeth fill her ears. The woman turns around and sees a pack of fifty Shadow Raptors, Velociraptor-like Creatures of Grimm. The Grimm appear to be newborns as evidenced by the lack of extra bone-like spikes on their jet-black bodies but still twice the woman's size. Pairs of burning red eyes embedded in white skull-like masks narrow as they zero in on their prey and sharp claws on their hands and feet twitch in apparent anticipation of sinking into the woman's flesh._

 _The woman fully turns around to face them and stands, as though waiting for them to make the first move. She doesn't need to wait long for a soon as she locks eyes with the beasts, the Grimm charge with a shriek, their jaws open, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth. They are just inches away from the woman as they lunge... only to hit the ground where she once stood, rose petals in her place. The Shadow Raptors hiss in confusion as they look around for their disappearing prey. Suddenly, the woman reappears to their left, seemingly materializing in a torrent of rose petals. Two of the Grimm split off and flank her, one from her left, the other to her right. The Grimm charge again, only for the woman to seemingly explode into red flower petals._

 _The woman rematerializes in mid-air, her cape fluttering in the air like blood-red wings. She reaches to her side and pulls out the weapon from hits holster. The weapon shifts and morphs into a scythe with a glowing red blade. She teleports again next to one of the Grimm and swings her weapon, cleaving its head from its shoulders. Another Shadow Raptor sees this and runs at her. The woman disappears into rose petals again and reappear behind and bisect the Grimm. It is at that moment, the Grimm charge and surround her, thinking their numbers will overwhelm her. They couldn't be more wrong._

 _The woman twirls her scythe around... and a second blade appears at the bottom of the pommel in a reverse of the blade on top. Within moments, the woman is spinning her weapon at a speed causing the blades to blur. Then she attacks._

 _She cleaves through the Grimm with ease; decapitating them, slicing them in half, even spinning her dual-bladed scythe and slicing any Grimm like a human blender, stirring up snow in the process. Suddenly, the woman sees movement to the corner of her eye. This was just half of a full pack. The rest of them, bordering in the hundreds, come flooding out of the forest. The woman teleports just as the Grimm start to close in on her and rematerializes just outside of their circle. She twirls the scythe again only this time it changes once again, into a rifle with a barrel that looks like two parallel lines with an empty space. The woman digs herself firmly into the ground..._

"I think, in time, you'll be a Huntress worth remembering." Ruby answered with a smile.

 _The woman takes aim with her gun and as the Grimm close in on her once again, she smirks and winks before pulling the trigger. With an explosive amount of force and enough recoil to make her shudder even as she's firmly rooted into the ground, the projectile speeds out to its targets, slamming into a chunk of the gathered Grimm and blowing them into chunks. The pieces of the Shadow Raptors within the projectile's path dissolve into black mist before they even hit the ground. The woman fires again. Just as before, the Grimm caught in the fire are blown apart. The woman changes her gun into its dual-bladed scythe form and charges at the Grimm. She then teleports and slices a few of the Shadow Raptors only to disappear and reappear again to the point of repeating it. Slice. Teleport. Repeat. Slice. Teleport. Repeat. In a matter of minutes, the Grimm no longer live as bits and pieces of them litter the snowy ground, evaporating into nothing._

Skarlet smiled as she looked at her grandmother's gravemarker. "Then I promise Grandma Summer, wherever she is right now, I'll be the greatest Huntress in Remnant!" she announced.

Ruby, still baring a warm smile, ruffled her daughter's hair. "I think it's time we went home. Unless 'Remnant's greatest Huntress' isn't hungry."

Skarlet then took note of the growling in her belly and nodded to her mother. With that, mother and daughter walked hand and hand from the grave.

 _The woman stands strong and proud as she plants the pommel of her scythe into the snow, her red eyes focused on the sky as if remembering a promise long ago._


	2. Cobalt Trailer

**I don't own RWBY. Only Skarlet, Kobalt, Lavender and Topazu.**

SKLT: Kobalt

 _Sometimes the greatest challenge we can face is the one we must adapt to._

Spear and rapier clanged together as they collided. Both weapons were very similar, both were made of the same metal and both had revolving chambers filled with raw Dust. They might as well have been mother/daughter weapons. As they should have been. It was training time for Weiss, head of the Schnee Dust Company and her daughter Kobalt. The twelve-year-old was a mixture of both parents, with silver blue hair tied into a tight braid, cold blue eyes and pale skin. Normally, she would be sparring with her father, Neptune due to him having a similar weapon, but her mother insisted that she spar with her instead while he watched on the sidelines. As her mother put it, "Sometimes you're going to be in situations that put you at a disadvantage and you'll have to improvise."

Kobalt hadn't designed her weapon, Myrtekaiser, with close-range combat in mind so this immediately put her in an awkward position as she clumsily blocked Myrtenaster. Suddenly, her left foot started to slip on the padded floor which gave Weiss a chance to stick her revolver rapier underneath her spear and wrench it from her hands. Her mother then swept her feet from under her, knocking the pre-teen on her back with Myrtenaster's blade pointed at her chin.

Weiss sheathed her rapier and walked barefoot off the mats in order to retrieve her shoes to which Kobalt had gotten up into a cross-legged position and narrowed her eyes at her mother. "That was cheating!" she screamed.

Weiss sighed and, once she slipped on her boots, met her daughter's gaze. "No, that was combat. Your enemy's not going to play fair, Kobalt, especially if you're going up against a Creature of Grimm."

"Dad never does that!"

Weiss groaned and rubbed her forehead. "Yes. Your father. Your father has a tendency to go easy on you. An enemy in real life would _never_ do that no matter _how_ old you are. You have to learn these things if you're going to be a Huntress!"

Kobalt scoffed before stepping off the mat, forgetting her shoes in the process and collecting Myrtekaiser. "Maybe I don't want to learn it from _you_!" she snapped. With that, the pre-teen stomped off to her room.

Neptune, who had been watching, whistled. "Well, that could've been better."

Weiss sighed as she sat down next to her husband. "What am I gonna do with her? She gets along so well with you. Well, sparring wise but that's aside the point."

Neptune shrugged. "Maybe because I don't knock a twelve-year-old who's shoved into a situation that leaves her at a severe disadvantage on her butt."

Weiss glared at him. Neptune put his hands up in defense. "I'm just sayin'!"

The Schnee Dust Company CEO sighed as if understanding what her husband was saying. "I know, Neppy. It's just that, I want her to know how it feels to really be a Huntress. It's not glamorous. It's a matter of life and death. I just want her to understand that."

Neptune wrapped a comforting hug around his wife. "I'm sure she will, just give her time." This caused Weiss to smile at her husband and she planted a kiss on his cheek.

However, unbeknownst to them, Kobalt was listening to their conversation the whole time.

The next day, after lunch, it was once again Neptune's turn to spar with Kobalt. He had his shoes and socks on the side and his weapon set on guandano mode as usual, something he always set it on when sparring Kobalt. He then noticed his daughter walking up to the mat, slipper shoes in one hand and Myrtekaiser resting against her right shoulder in spear mode.

"Hey, Kobi. Ready to start?" Neptune asked, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

"Actually, yes, Dad. There's just one thing." Kobalt answered, setting herself into a combat position.

Neptune rose an eyebrow. "And that would be-?"

"Do not, and I mean _do not_ , go easy on me."

This caused the elder Vasilias to scrunch his face in confusion. "Are you sure, sweetie?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Really come at me."

Neptune shrugged and shifted himself into a fighting stance. For a moment, father and daughter stood like that, neither making a move except for breathing. Then...

Kobalt charged first, swinging Myrtekaiser at her father who blocked it with his guandano. Neptune knocked the spear aside and attempted a stabbing motion with his weapon to which Kobalt dodged. The girl swung her weapon at her father only to once again have it blocked. For what seemed like several minutes, Neptune and Kobalt had their weapons locked together as they pushed back and forth, neither backing down. Eventually, Neptune shoved his daughter off him, causing her to hit the floor. She rolled back to her feet and charged. Her father spun his own weapon around, its blade splitting into three which he used to pin the spear to the mats.

Kobalt narrowed her eyes as a faint light appeared on her right arm. Before Neptune could react, Kobalt shot her hand out and runes burst out, knocking her father off his feet and allowing Kobalt to pull Myrtekaiser from under the trident's blades. It was a that moment, both father and daughter began to bob, weave and clash to the point it looked like blurs to the naked eye.

After what seemed like almost an hour, both Kobalt and Neptune laid their weapons on the ground, their bodies glistening with sweat and breaths ragged. It was also at that moment they heard someone clapping and turned to see Weiss, a proud smile etched across her face.

As it turned out, Weiss had gone in to see what the commotion was in the sparring room and was greeted with the sight of her daughter and husband mock-fighting with the same kind of intensity she put Kobalt through yesterday and decided to watch.

"Hello,- _huff_ -Mother- _huff_. How- _huff_ -long were you- _huff_ -standing there?" Kobalt formally asked Weiss, gasping for breath.

"Long enough to be proud." the SDC CEO responded walking down to the training mats. "However... now that you've proven you can handle yourself in intense situations, let's try sparring with me again."

As she said that, Weiss sat down and pulled off her shoes and unsheathed Myrtenaster. "Neptune, go take a break."

With that, Neptune walked off to retrieve his socks and shoes while Kobalt turned to face her mother who tossed her a water bottle. The pre-teen chugged down the cold liquid as she worked to catch her breath.

"Shall we begin?" Weiss asked, assuming a combat stance.

Kobalt smirked as she readied herself. "Let's."


	3. Lavender Trailer

**I don't own RWBY.**

SKLT: Lavender

 _Foolishness does not lead to bravery._

Two sisters walked along a grassed path to the opening of a foreboding forest that seemed to get darker with depth. Both girls were Faunus; one was an eleven-year-old with long lavender hair tied into a long braid, claws instead of nails which was why she always kept her feet bare. She had a very balanced figure to her as well and wore black/purple shorts and a purple T-Shirt with a cat's eye symbol on its center. Her eight-year-old sister was a monkey Faunus, with a pair of monkey ears on the top of her red/white-fringed hair and big, round, amber eyes. She was rounder compared to her sister and wore a shirt and pants that matched her hair colors as well as black sandals.

"Lavender, I really don't think we should be out here!" Lily shouted to her older sister.

Lavender, turned to her two-year-younger sister and rolled her dark-gray, slitted eyes. "Lily, answer this: do you want to be brave like Mom and Dad?"

The younger Faunus girl twiddled her fingers before answering, "One day, maybe but not like this! Mama will be so mad if she finds out!"

The cat Faunus girl climbed up the tree in front of her, using the claws that replaced her toe nails and finger nails and smirked, "Don't worry, she won't find out."

"I don't know." Lily commented, looking into the center of the forest just outside the border of their house. "I think there's a reason we're not allowed in there."

Lavender scoffed, "Quit being such a big baby! Huntsmen and Huntresses go into dangerous locations all the time to take out Grimm. A little, itty, bitty peek's not gonna hurt anyone."

Lily stared into the depths of the forbidding woods and swallowed. "I _really_ hope you're right."

Lavender sighed at her sister's cowardice, "If it makes you feel any better, you can hold my hand."

The monkey Faunus immediately rushed up and gripped her sister's hand as the two girls wandered into the forest. Once inside, the two girls were greeted by the sight of twisted and gnarled trees. Lily shivered in fear as her eyes darted back and forth, keeping watch for anything else moving. Anything else that wasn't human or Faunus. However, Lavender, thanks to her eyes, was able to see in front of her and strode on bravely. Within a matter of minutes, both girls came across an open part of the forest with trees spread into a circular formation allowing the semi-noon sun's light to enter

"Okay, I really think we need to go back now!" Lily squeaked.

Lavender frowned at her younger sister. "Now? Lily, you're really starting to act like a baby right now-"

Suddenly, Lavender paused and her eyes widened like small plates. "Oh no."

Lily shivered as she looked around in fright. "What? What is it?"

"Grimm."

"GRIMM!?" Lily squealed and darted behind her sister, her heart racing, breath becoming rapid and sweat and tears dripping down her face.

"It's coming close."

"Where is it?" Lily's gaze darted left and right and even up and down, looking for the Creature or _Creatures_ of Grimm that were possibly heading their way and they were out in the open. They might as well have had dinner bells tied to their necks.

"It's here." Lavender whispered ominously.

"Where!? Where!? Where is it!?"

"It's right over... _here_!" With that Lily felt something grip her waist, causing the eight-year-old to scream out loud and jump back... only to see Lavender on her back laughing until tears ran down her eyes. "Oh, you should have seen your face, Lily! It was priceless! Ha ha ha ha!"

Lily glared at her sister and pouted, "It's not funny!"

Lavender briefly stopped laughing, "You're right... it was hysterical!" With that she continued to laugh, harder this time.

"I'm gonna tell Mama!"

Lavender seemed to ignore the monkey Faunus's threat as she laughed to her heart's desire.

Lily growled at her sister only to see something which made her heart stop.

"La-La-Lavender! G-G-G-Gri-Grimm!" she stuttered, pointing a finger to her direction.

The cat Faunus girl stood up and smirked, "Nice try, Lils, but I'm not gonna fall for the same..."

 _Grrrrrrrrrr_.

"...Joke." The last part came out as a squeak as a giant shadow loomed over the eleven-year-old. The girl turned around to come face-to-face with a gigantic creature. The beast looked like a giant ink-black bear with bony spikes protruding from its back and shoulders and a bone white "mask" on its face which housed burning red eyes. Its front paws ended in eight, long, white claws, four on each one while its mouth was tipped with two rows of sharp teeth.

The Ursa glared down at its soon-to-be-prey; a little monkey Faunus paralyzed in fear and a Cat Faunus who decided it would be a good idea to come here. With that the Grimm roared and lifted its paw in the air, hoping to slice the cat Faunus to ribbons.

Lavender yelped and dodged the Grimm's claws just as they hit the ground. With that, both girls ran screaming away from it as they ran toward the path they came... only to have the Ursa jump in front of them and advance. "Split up!" Lavender yelled as the two girls separated.

The Ursa at first was confused, until it turned its attention on the purple-haired girl and lunged at her.

Lavender screamed and climbed up a tree to avoid the Ursa's claws. She then noticed Lily. "Lily, go get help!"

Lily looked up at her sister before running off. Unfortunately, that also caught the Ursa's attention as it started barreling after her. Thinking quickly, Lavender snapped off a thick enough branch and tossed it at the Grimm's head, turning its attention once again to her.

"HEY! OVER HERE, YOU BIG UGLY TEDDY BEAR!" she yelled at the top of her voice just as Lily ran off screaming for help.

The Ursa growled as it stalked its prey. The Grimm then lunged, swiping at her with its claws. Lavender ducked away, but not quick enough as the tip of the Grimm's claw scratched her left cheek, deep enough to draw blood. The Faunus girl, blood running down her cheek glared at the Grimm and climbed up another tree. However, she soon found out there was a difference between an actual bear and a _bear Grimm_. The Ursa stood up on its smaller hindlegs and slashed the branch she was holding onto. Lavender yelped as she leapt off the branch, adrenaline running through her body. However, as soon as she hit the ground, the air had been knocked out of her and she found her face inches away from the Ursa's. The bear Grimm roared in her face, blanketing her with its warm, wet, foul breath and its teeth greeting her.

 _So this is how I die. Eaten by an Ursa. Guess this is what I get for being a little idiot._ she thought as the Ursa's sharp teeth inched closer and closer to her.

But the teeth never reached her skin as a pair of golden humanoid figures with monkey tails appeared out of nowhere and thwacked the Ursa, allowing Lavender to scramble for cover behind a tree as she watched a battle enfold. She saw her father leap out of the trees, sunlight glistening off his gold hair and Ruyi and Jingu Bang in staff mode in hand. The bear Grimm, forgetting about the eleven-year-old it almost took a bite out of, turned its attention on Sun. In anger, the Ursa lunged at him only to receive a strong hit from his bo staff. The Ursa roared and raised its forepaw in an attempt to crush Sun like a soda can... only to have it ensnared by what looked like a pistol with a blade on top of it connected to a long, thick black cord. The owner of the cord pulled their weapon back, slicing the front limb of the beast off, causing black mist to spill out of the wound. The now three-limbed Ursa turned to see Blake standing in front of it.

Lavender watched as her mother ran at the Ursa, long black hair trailing behind her, Gambol Shroud in hand, cat ears flattened and eyes narrowed. Despite having three limbs, the Ursa still stood in a battle stance Using its remaining forelimb it tried to swat at the Huntress. Blake created a shadow clone which shattered from the impact of the Grimm's claw. As she soared through the skies, Blake shifted Gambol Shroud into its katana mode and shoved the blade into the Ursa's mask and through the bottom part of its jaw.

With the Grimm equivalent of a death rattle, the Ursa collapsed, already beginning to dissolve into black mist.

Lavender then watched as her mother talked to her father. She couldn't hear all of it but she could make out, "I'll catch up with you in just a moment." from her mother. It was then Sun left while Blake remained. Suddenly, she watched her mother turn a stern gaze toward her. She snapped her fingers and sharply pointed at the ground in front of her. She might as well have just said, "You're in big trouble, young lady."

With her gaze pointed to the ground, Lavender walked slowly to her mother and stopped in front of her.

"Are you hurt?" Blake asked.

"A little." She pointed at the cut on her cheek to confirm this.

"Is it bad?"

"No."

So far so good, but deep down, Lavender was just expecting her mother to explode.

"Okay, then, I just have one more question."

Lavender hesitatingly looked up and locked eyes with her mother.

"What's that?"

"Lavender Wukong," Blake's eyes narrowed, " _What in the name of Oum were you thinking_!?"

There was the explosion. Blake even showed her fangs after shouting at Lavender, something she only did when she was incredibly angry.

Lavender darted her eyes to the ground and looked at her feet. "I-I was just-"

She was ignored as her mother ranted, "You go behind my back and enter a place I specifically forbade you from ever going to and you put yourself and your sister in danger! There's a reason this place is deemed off limits for you and your siblings! What do you think would have happened if Lily didn't tell me where you were and your father and I couldn't get to you in time?"

Blake's rant finally came to an end as she heard Lavender sniffle and she looked down in puzzlement as her second youngest daughter hugged her. "I j-ju-just wan-wanted to be brave like y-y-you, Mom." With that, she began to cry.

Blake knelt down and returned her daughter's hug. "Sweetie, there's a difference between being brave and being _foolish_. And what you did today was foolish. Lavi, listen. I was so terrified seeing Lily in such distress just to she could tell me her oldest sister was alone with an Ursa. It terrified me even more that I thought I was going to lose you."

With that, both mother and daughter pulled away from the embrace and held hands as they walked home.

"Let's go put some antibiotic spread on that wound. Oh and, Lavender?"  
Lavender looked up at her mother.

"Yeah?"

"You're grounded."

"I understand, Mom."

 _8 years later_

"Lavender? Hey, Lavender!" Sixteen-year-old Lily called out for Lavender. Her once long hair was now in a bowl cut and she had gained a somewhat more reed-like appearance. She turned the corner to see her sister, just strapping on Nightshade on both forearms. The nineteen-year-old had gone through a few changes since her encounter with the Ursa. Her long braid had been traded for a loose ponytail, she wore stockings which left her heel and toes bare and she bore a scar underneath her eye, a reminder of that terrifying day. She had since then replaced her T-Shirt with a sleeveless lavender tunic and her symbol was applied to the left leg of her capri-pants.

Lavender turned to face Lily. "Yeah?"

"Mom says it's time for dinner."

"Oh, right," Lavender thought for a moment, "Well, tell her I'll be right up in just a moment!"

Lily rose an eyebrow before shrugging, "Okay."

As soon as she left, Lavender concentrated and closed her eyes for what seemed like fifteen seconds. As soon as she opened them, she was faced with five perfect copies of herself; her "sparring buddies".

"Alright," she muttered, extending her wrist blades, "Who wants to go first?"


	4. Topaz Trailer

**I don't own RWBY. Be warned, this chapter gets dark.**

SKLT: Topazu

 _Even light shines in the darkest of hours_

"Topazu!"

 _Just few more minutes._ Topazu thought to herself as she shifted to her side in her bed.

"Topazu! Wake up!"

The twelve-year-old rolled again to her side only to feel a firm yet gentle hand shake her shoulder and a voice that sounded identical to her father rang into her ears.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead. You don't want to miss the apple picking don't you?"

That immediately perked up the usually shy girl as her green eyes shot open and she was greeted with the smiling, bearded face of her father. It also helped that today the Dust Apples (called so due to being fertilized by powdered Dust) were ripe for harvesting. She could just imagine biting into them. She then shot out of bed and raced towards the door.

"Whoa. Whoa. Whoa! I didn't think you'd be picking apples in your nightgown this time." her father Chokoreto commented. As soon as he said that, Topazu looked down to see she was still in her nightclothes. She blushed before she walked into her closet to get changed. After she came out, dressed in her topaz sundress and light gold slipper shoes, she and her father picked up their baskets and walked outside.

They turned slightly left to the corner to a tree decorated in glowing apples that seemed to reflect the mid-morning sun.

Topazu excitedly ran towards the small apple tree and set her basket down. Chocoreto chuckled at hs daughter's enthusiasm especially seeing as this was the only day he ever saw her crawl out of her shell.

"Settle down, sweetie." he told her, "Dad's not as fast as he used to be." With that, the widower set his own basket down and looked around the bustling village of Sanctuary as children played in the streets and people began their morning conversations.

Topazu and Chocoreto's village was a Dust Village, called so because of the Dust depositories underneath its foundation. Since then, the Dust had been applied to everyday life; fertilizer, weaponry, clothing, anything except food. However, it was also a village known for less than acceptable living conditions, especially when the winter came, which sadly was the reason Chocoreto's wife couldn't make it upon giving birth to Topazu, leaving his daughter the only thing to remind him of his beloved Anba. There was also a reason a wall was constructed around the village: villages outside the walls of either Vacuo, Vale, Mistral or Atlas tended to disappear. Although the actual cause was unknown, the likliest was Grimm attacks. The gunners on the wall were there just to make sure no Grimm got in, even the flying ones.

"Papa! Look at this one!" Topazu rang out. The chocolate-haired man turned to see her holding an apple as big as his fist gleaming with all the colors of the morning sun. To think that a tree as small like that could produce a fruit that big. Chocoreto smiled at his daughter's prize.

"That's quite an apple, Topazu." he commented.

"What do you think it tastes like?"

"Only way to find out is to take a bite of it."

With that, Topazu rubbed the apple with the hem of her shirt and bit into it. The sweet and tangy juices washed over her tongue as her teeth sank into its crisp flesh.

Unfortunately for them, today was the very day Sanctuary's peace was shattered.

It started with the clanging of a bell and the gunners rushed up to the five-mile-high wall, Dust guns in hand. Topazu stopped and paused as her father turned his gaze to the horizon.

"Papa? What is it?" Topazu asked, pulling on his shirt.

Chocoreto turned to face his daughter, fear in his eyes.

The answer to her question did not come from her father.

"GRIMM!"

With that, Topazu felt her father grab her wrist, her apple falling from her hands as he rushed back to their home just as the gunners unleashed a torrent of Dust-tipped bullets from atop the wall. Father and daughter were almost home until they heard a sharp booming noise. Then another, this one louder. The two turned just to see the wall dent, cracks beginning to spider outwards. Then, suddenly, the walls that had protected Sanctuary for twelve years, keeping it around longer than any other village outside the walls of Remnant's four kingdoms exploded as an enormous, jet-black, serpentine shape burst through it.

The Grimm was enormous, only _slightly_ shorter than the walls it had breached. At a first glance, one would think this was a King Taijitu, however, the only thing this Grimm shared was that it looked like a snake. King Taijitus never got that big, or at least ones that were recorded. Whereas Taijitus looked like vipers with two heads (a black one where the tail should have been), this looked like a cobra with four eyes and a tail that ended in a spear point. Its face looked like it had a shovel-blade for a lower jaw. However, its 'blade' quickly retracted with a sickening pop. The Grimm scanned its surroundings until it spread its hood and let out a hissing screech into the sky.

Unfortunately, for the villagers of Sanctuary, it did not come alone. Soon after, hordes of Beowolves and two-legged reptilian Grimm called Creeps began flooding into the village.

Amid the chaos, Chocoreto and Topazu ducked into the house, the screams of the villagers and roars of the Grimm still seeping into the house, albeit muffled. Chocoreto had his arms wrapped tightly around Topazu who was just now starting to shudder in fright and he could feel her tears running down his shirt. Suddenly, there came a bashing at the door, causing Topazu to jolt. Chocoreto held her close before navigating her beneath her bed.

"Stay there, no matter what happens or what you hear _do not come out from under your bed_." he ordered. He then picked up his Dust Rifle and went toward the doorway as the sound of wood exploding and the scraping of claws on the floor filled the air. There was a brief pause that was broken by the sound of her father's rifle firing followed by growls and Chocoreto yelling. Then silence.

For what seemed like an eternity, Topazu lay curled up under her bed, shivering, tears rolling down her eyes, horrified from the events that had now laid out. Suddenly, she heard something walking towards her. _Papa_? she thought. She was just about to come out... until she heard a growl and saw the shadow of a Beowolf. Her heart began to race even faster as sweat began to bead from her pores as she saw the feet of the Grimm enter her room, sniffing the ground. Her heart had now become a drum as the Beowolf's snout came closer and closer to her until eventually, she saw the feet of the Grimm in front of her.

She hoped and prayed to Oum that the beast would just leave. That it didn't find her scent and just give up. Unfortunately, like all other things that happened today, any and all hopes came crashing down. Topazu saw the Grimm's claws fold over the bottom base of her bed and it was tossed aside, shattering the wooden base on impact and leaving her in the open. She looked up and saw the Beowolf looming over her. Screaming, Topazu ran as the Grimm tried to slash where she once lay. Once it saw it missed, the beast turned and saw her running and chased after her.

Adrenaline coursed through her body as the twelve-year-old ran for her life in the house. Suddenly, she saw a body in front of her. Claw marks all over his body, still bleeding, his once cheerful gray eyes now dull and staring lifelessly and Dust Rifle broken in two... was her father. Topazu's eyes began to water as she stared at what used to be her father. She had lost the only parent she ever had. The man who would make her laugh in her saddest days, who told her stories as he put her to bed, who kept her safe to his dying breath, was now laying motionlessly on the floor. She then heard a growl behind her; the Beowolf that killed her father. However, fear was not running through her veins, nor sadness. It was anger. Pure. Raw. Anger.

Picking up half of what used to be her father's Dust Rifle, Topazu turned to face the Grimm, her green eyes now red within red, her hair whipping in all directions and a snarl on her face.

" _I'M GOING TO KILL YOU_!" The sound she made as she charged at the Beowolf couldn't possibly count as human. With a scream sounding like a roar, the girl hit the Grimm with the butt of the rifle in the head. She then hit it again. Then again. Then again. All while screaming at the top of her lungs. The Grimm was already dead after three strikes.

Suddenly, her anger passed as she blinked to see the dead Beowolf, already evaporating. It was also at that point she heard new sounds; missiles detonating, the dying screams of Grimm, something like shotgun blasts, machine guns and people shouting orders. The most she could make out was "concentrate" and "Apophis".

She walked out, still holding the lower part of the rifle to see the giant Grimm getting bombarded with missiles as robots and armored soldiers opened fire on the Grimm. The cobra Grimm, or Apophis as it was labelled by the soldiers, hissed and shrieked as what looked like big, boxy walkers fired missile after missile at it until it finally let out a death rattle and came crashing to the ground. Topazu heard the shotgun noise again and turned to see a woman in her mid-twenties toss aside a dead Creep. The woman was dressed rather ruggedly, with a tan vest covering a yellow crop top while an orange scarf rested around her neck. She wore a pair of brown shorts with a piece of gray cloth wrapped around her left boot. The woman also sported long, flowing gold hair that seemed to be on fire and a pair of fiery red eyes. Two golden gauntlets containing what appeared to be shotgun slugs rested on each of her hands, obviously being the source of the sound she heard. The woman then turned her head and both found themselves locking eyes.

The woman began to walk toward the shivering pre-teen and as soon as she was mere inches away from her, sat on her knee and looked her straight in the eyes. Topazu noticed her red eyes had turned lilac and her hair no longer seemed to be on fire.

"Hey, you okay?" she asked. Topazu just stood there unanswering.

"My name's Yang, what's yours?"

"T-T-Topazu."

"Okay, Topazu, are you alright? Are you hurt?"

Topazu shook her head slowly. It was there she saw the broken half of her father's rifle and felt its smooth surface against her fingers. She remembered: Her father was dead. Her friends and neighbors, everyone... dead. What happened was no dream. It was a nightmare. A living nightmare. Topazu looked up at Yang, tears developing in her eyes, lip quivering, a lump in her throat before she burst into tears and wrapped her arms around the Huntress. The Grimm may have been killed off but she had just lost everything. As she was crying, she felt Yang stroke her hair while whispering, "It's gonna be alright. Just let it out."

While this was going on, a girl that looked the age of seventeen with curly orange hair, pale skin and green eyes walked up to them and cleared her throat. "Yang, we found a Dust depository, make that _many_ depositories. The village was practically sitting on them."

Yang looked up at the girl, "Any other survivors?"

The girl shook her head. "Negative. That girl with you-"

"Topazu."

"What?"

"Her name's Topazu."

The girl paused for a moment, " _Topazu_ is the only survivor."

Yang gave Topazu a sympathetic look, "Thanks for the honesty anyway, Penny."

"You are quite welcome, Yang. Is there anything else you want?"

Yang thought for a moment and then looked at the teary-eyed girl.

"Actually, Penny, as a matter of fact-"

"Adoption!?" blurted out the Atlas Adoption Center head, Magenta Cinch as she adjusted her half-circle glasses. She had just been handed adoption papers by Yang while Topazu waited outside on a bench.

"Yes, adoption. I would like to adopt Topazu Gorudo."

Cinch grimaced and tapped her nails. "No offense, Ms. Xiao Long, but um-"

Yang frowned, "But what?"

"It's just that, knowing you, you don't seem to be rather responsible with handling children."

"I get along with my niece pretty well, what's your point?"

"My point is that-"

" _My_ point," Yang snapped slamming both hands on the desk, "is that I refuse to let a twelve-year-old girl who just had her entire village get slaughtered by Grimm spend time in an orphanage! That is unless you can find one that is civil to children with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder."

Cinch fidgeted before sighing, knowing not to further argue with a daughter of Taiyang Xiao Long. She then pulled out her pen and handed it to Yang. "Just sign here."

A scream from Topazu's room split the Xiao Long household in the middle of the night. The girl was covered in sweat, causing her nightgown to cling to her body. She heard the sound of bare feet thumping against the floor as Yang appeared in the doorway, dressed in her night attire of a tank top and shorts. "Topazu! What's wrong?"

Topazu looked at her adoptive parent with tear-streaked eyes. "I had another nightmare."

Yang walked over to the girl and laid on the edge of her bed. "Was it the same one?" she asked.

Topazu nodded, earning her a sympathetic look from the Huntress. "How about I sleep with you tonight?"

"But I'm twelve." Topazu bluntly stated.

"I know, but it's just for tonight."

Topazu thought for a moment before nodding, "Okay."

With that Yang nuzzled herself beside the girl and embraced her. After a few short minutes, both fell asleep.

Topazu may have lost a father in the last twenty four hours, but she gained a mother. That night, any and all nightmares ended with her being saved and riding on a gentle golden dragon named Yang.


	5. Volume 1: Chapter 1: Beacon

**I do not own RWBY.**

Chapter 1: Beacon

Skarlet tapped her foot on her bed as music flooded from her headphones into her ears. She was currently cut off from the world as she let the otherwise poetic lyrics amidst the blaring heavy metal envelop her in a sense of bliss.

"Ska...et!" a muffled voice called out. The eighteen-year-old didn't fully hear it so she just kept tapping her bare foot to the rythmn.

" _Skar...et_!" the voice was a little bit louder but still had no effect on the blissfully ignorant teenager. Again, she didn't fully catch it and it just faded away. Suddenly, her sanctuary of music and rythmn came to a crashing end as she felt her headphones get ripped from her head.

"SKARLET!" With a yelp, Skarlet jumped and rolled off her bed and took the blanket with her, her eyes spinning and her brain trying to process what had just happened. As her vision began to readjust, she saw her mother standing above her dressed in Huntress attire, her left hand on her hip and right hand holding her red and black headphones, eyebrow cocked and booted foot tapping impatiently.

"Mom, any reason you had to shout in my ear today?" the daughter of Ruby Rose asked in a deadpan.

"No reason-"

"Okay, so give me my headphones back." Skarlet interrupted trying to grab her headphones only to have Ruby pull them away from her.

"Okay, first of all, these are technically _my_ headphones. I just passed them on to you as a Day of the Hearth present. Secondly, do you know what today even _is_?"

Skarlet rose an eyebrow, "Gee, could it be a Monday?"

Ruby nodded, "Yes, it is but do you know what _day_ it is?"

Skarlet gave her mother a deadpan expression, "Is that a trick question or something?"

Ruby sighed, "Skarlet, look at the calendar. _That's_ my reason I had to yell in your ear."

Skarlet rolled her eyes and did as she was told. She then saw a date: Monday, August 14th. Circled in bright red ink with the words, written in black ink: Beacon.

For a moment, the teenager stared at the calendar date. While Ruby counted down until her daughter reacted.

 _One... Two... Three... Four..._

"OH SWEET OUM, I'M GONNA BE LATE!" Skarlet shrieked as she rushed into her closet, bringing with her a fresh set of clothes, most of which comprised of her entire wardrobe as she stuffed the rest into one of her suitcases. She then teleported into the bathroom and began to simultaneously brush her teeth while showering, inadvertantly getting soap suds in her eye. As soon as she was done showering/brushing her teeth and getting her clothes on in a rush, she teleported back into her room and dropped her toothbrush into her suitcase. She then ran to her closet again and placed her weapon, a railgun/dual scythe she named Shadowed Rose, onto her shirt which had magnetized strips in order to keep the weapon on her.

"Come on, Mom, we gotta go! We gotta go! We gotta-"

Ruby finally jumped in to calm her daughter's panic-driven tirade and chuckled. "Sweetie, the airships don't leave until two hours from now. You'll be fine. I just wanted to see if you were ready to go or not."

Skarlet sighed, "Sorry, Mom, it's just that I- I keep reminding myself of what you told me about Grandma Summer and that promise I made when I was ten. What if I screw up?"

Ruby smiled, "Skarlet, when I was attending Beacon, I had _plenty_ of times I would screw up, but I learned from them. I accepted my mistakes and I worked hard to make up for them. You'll be fine."

"Did those screw-ups happen to involve you and a certain Ice Queen?" Skarlet asked with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"You just _had_ to go there," Ruby muttered under her breath, "What I'm trying to say is, we all screw up time to time, nobody becomes a skilled Huntsman or Huntress without mistakes."

Skarlet gave her mother a smile before hugging her. "I'm gonna miss you, Mom."

Ruby returned her daughter's hug and let a tear roll down her eye. _My little girl's all grown up_.

"Mom? Are you crying?"

Ruby snapped back into reality to see Skarlet in a smirk.

"What? Me? Crying? No, no it's just I need to dust your room in case guests come around or if you-"

Before she could finish, the sound of barreling paws and barking cut her off as a blur of black and brown shot into the room. Said blur happened to be the Rose family dog Drei, a Corgi Ruby had adopted for Skarlet on her eleventh birthday.

"Hey, Drei, did you come to say goodbye to me before we leave?" Skarlet cooed scratching under the dog's cheeks, receiving a response in the form of a whimper and a shrill bark. "Will you take care of Grandma Ruby while I'm gone, girl? Oh yes you will, yes you will!"

Ruby cleared her throat. "Um, Skarlet, we might want to get going, it's a long drive."

"But I haven't had breakfast yet. Besides, you said we have two hours until the airships depart."

"I did, but it wouldn't hurt if we got there early. And as for breakfast, we can pick up something on the way."

"Oh, okay. See you on holidays, Drei!" Skarlet called out to the dog who answered with a bark.

With that both Roses set off to the car, making sure every suitcase fit perfectly into the back and they departed.

" **Attention, attention, all airships for Beacon Academy will depart in one hour and fifteen minutes**."

"Alright, let's do a check-up on your supplies." Weiss told Kobalt who groaned seeing as this was the _fifth_ time she went through this the moment before they left home and after they left home. "Mom, are we seriously going to do this again? I've told you four times by now, I have everything packed and accounted for!"

"Oh, _really_?" Weiss asked.

"Yes! Really!"

"Let's just make sure. Myrtekaiser?"

"Mo-ooom!"

" _Myrtekaiser_?" Weiss repeated, raising an eyebrow at the nineteen-year-old.

Kobalt sighed, "Yes."

"Clothes?"

"Yes."

"Dust vials?"

"Which ones? Also, yes."

"Scroll?"

"Ye-"

"With the charger this time?"

" _Yesss_." Kobalt answered, gritting her teeth in frustration. This was replied by Weiss in the form of a frown.

"Don't give me that attitude, young lady."

"Wow, going to Beacon. Hope you don't get ripped to shreds, squirt." Amethyst Wukong, the oldest of the Wukong siblings, commented snidely.

Lavender gave him a deadpan face. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, 'Thyst."

Blake gave her oldest son a light punch to his shoulder, "Amethyst, your sister's about to leave and the only times we're going to see her home are on holidays, try to be a little bit nicer."

"Make sure you call us when you get the chance, sis." Lily told her sister, giving her a hug.

The drive to the airship docks took a little bit longer than anticipated, not just for having to pick up breakfast, but also a traffic block up and Ruby having difficulty find a place to park. What should have been a forty five minute drive became an hour and five minute one. With that, Skarlet rushed out of her seat and helped her mother remove the suitcases from the trunk. "Come on, Mom! Come on!" Skarlet told her as she rushed toward the docks. Ruby rolled her eyes but chuckled at her daughter's energy.

As she ran to the docks, Skarlet noticed two people waiting among the gathered crowd, two people that brought a smile to the soon-to-be-Huntress-in-Training. "Aunt Yang! Topazu!"

Yang lifted her head to see a red and black-tip-haired eighteen-year-old running towards her, arms wide open. With a smile, the blond Huntress opened her arms and the two hugged while Ruby followed close behind her.

"Skarlet, I'm so proud of you! You're about to got to the school your mom and I went to!" Yang cried hugging her niece.

"Yang, try not to choke the air out of her like you nearly did me." Ruby joked. Yang freed Skarlet from her embrace. "Just for the record, Mom, Aunt Yang doesn't hug me _that_ hard. Quit exaggerating."

Ruby shrugged, "Maybe I am. Maybe I'm not."

" **Attention, attention. All airships for Beacon Academy will depart in forty-five minutes.** "

"You excited, Topazu?" Skarlet asked her cousin, ready to set off.

Topazu was too wrapped up in her anxieties to pay attention.

"Topazu? Hey, Remnant to Topazu. You still there?"

The topaz-haired girl snapped back into reality, "What? Oh, y-yeah, really excited."

Skarlet frowned and rolled her head. "Ya don't sound excited to me." After she put the pieces together, the teenager closed her eyes and gave a confident smile as she patted her cousin on the head. "Don't worry, Topazu. You'll have your big cousin Skarlet around to take care of you." She then walked off, not noticing her adopted cousin scowling at her.

"I'm a year _older_ than you." Topazu muttered. Yang then turned her foster daughter to her and hugged her goodbye.

"Good luck, sweetie. Don't worry. You'll be fine."

Topazu smiled and returned her mother's hug.

Ruby put her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "One last hug for the road?"

Skarlet shrugged, "Sure why not?"

With that, Ruby embraced Skarlet and the two stood like that until the younger Rose started to notice people staring. "Uh, Mom. You can let go now. I'm gonna be late for the departure."

Ruby then noticed this and let her daughter go with a chuckle, "Oh, right. Sorry. Go on. Go ahead."

With that, Skarlet pulled Topazu along with her toward the first airship, both girls carrying their luggage as Ruby and Yang looked on.

"Well, this is the day." Ruby commented, "My little girl's all grown up. It seems only yesterday I would bounce her on my knee while feeding her bottle." She sniffed as she wiped a tear away.

"Let's just face it, Rubes," Yang commented, "Our little girls have grown up. Our jobs as parents are done." She seemed to sob on that last part. For a brief moment, both sisters looked at each other before...

"I MISS HER ALREADY-Y-Y-Y!" Ruby sobbed.

"ME TOO-O-OOO!" As both women hugged and bawled their eyes out.

As this was going on, it had attracted the attention of Weiss who was just now waving goodbye to Kobalt. With a scoff she muttered to herself, "What's their problem? All we're doing is saying goodbye to our children. Children we... raised our...selves and are... now growing up." her last words trailed as it finally hit her. Clearing her throat, the Schnee Dust Company CEO, composed herself and walked towards her crying former team-mates. The daughters of Taiyang briefly stopped crying, tears running down their cheeks as they saw their friend. "ROOM FOR ONE MORE!?" Weiss cried out as she joined her Beacon team-mates in their crying.

Meanwhile, Blake watched as Lavender boarded the airship for Beacon. Pride began to swell inside her, though it was slightly dampened by the three members of RWBY making a scene crying. As she went up the ramp, she briefly flashed to her a six-year-old. With a beaming smile, she wiped a tear from her eye and waved goodbye to her daughter. As the ramp retracted, the engines of the airship began to roar and the four wings shifted into flight position. Then the ships began to ascend.

However, that still left Blake with three crying women in their late thirties/early forties crying like they were four-year-olds. Rubbing the bridge of her nose, the cat Faunus groaned and walked up to them before yelling, "Will you three grow up!?"

"WHY DOES BLAKE HAVE TO BE SO MEAN!?" Ruby sobbed/yelled.

Blake sighed as she watched the rest of the airships ascend into the sky on their journey to Beacon.

It had only been an hour since the ships left Atlas to Vale. Most of the time on their trip, Skarlet had been looking out the cabin window in awe and anticipation while Topazu just hung around not really paying attention. Skarlet was about to talk to her until a hologram appeared before the gathered passengers. It was a young woman in her thirties, a rabbit Faunus with a pair of long ears sticking out from the top of her head being a dead giveaway. She was mainly brown in color, brown eyes, brown hair, brown attire with only her pale skin sticking out. Her symbol looked like a Passing of the Heart card heart sewn together. She looked rather dignified. It was still amazing, at least for Skarlet, to see how Faunus tolerance had grown over the years since the now disbanded White Fang to the point even Faunus could be made high-ranking officials. There was still discrimination, it was just more looked down upon than it used to be.

"Hello, future Huntsmen and Huntresses. My name is Velvet Winchester and I welcome you to Beacon. Let me be the first to congratulate you on earning the privilege of attending this academy. Over the next four years, you shall work and train to uphold the duty of protecting the people of Remnant from the Creatures of Grimm." the Faunus announced, her voice having an obvious accent.

"Topazu! Look!" Skarlet called her cousin over to her window. The nineteen-year-old walked over as both cousins stared upon the giant castle-like structure of Beacon over-looking a sea-side cliff.

 _This is it._ Skarlet thought, _I'm gonna fulfill my promise. Starting today, my story_ truly _begins_.

 **FYI: Day of the Hearth and Passing of the Heart are the Remnant equivalents for Christmas and Valentine's Day.**


	6. Volume 1: Chapter 2: Into the Forest

**I don't own RWBY. I hope I've made that clear**.

Chapter 2: Into the Forest

Emrallta Ozpin watched from the clock-like room of Beacon Tower as the airships began docking procedures, taking a sip of coffee out of her tea cup. As the daughter of Glynda and Oscar Ozpin, she had acquired many different aspects from them, her mother's hair style (although her hair was emerald green as opposed to blond) and appearance and her father's taste for coffee. She heard the door open as Velvet Winchester walked into the room, a large Scroll in hands. "The first year students have just arrived, Professor." she told her.

Emrallta nodded before stepping off, "Thank you, Mrs. Winchester. Shall we go greet them at the amphitheater?" Her heels clicked as she and Velvet went off to address the new students and prepare them for the four years of training they were to overcome.

"Can you believe it, Topazu? Beacon! The training grounds of our mothers! This is where legends are made, Topazu. This is where legends are _made_." Skarlet announced as she and Topazu stood at the gates of Beacon, gazing upon the statue depicting two hooded Huntsmen and a Huntress over-looking a rocky outercropping.

"Um, whatever you say, Skarlet." Topazu replied.

Skarlet looked at her shy cousin and frowned, "You okay, Topy?" she asked.

Topazu gasped at the question before nodding her head.

Skarlet was about to say more until...

" **All first year students, please report to the amphitheater**."

"That's us!" With that Skarlet and Topazu rushed into the building and toward the amphitheater.

The interior of the amphitheater was circular in shape with a glass dome as the roof. Bleachers were laid out in a circle amidst a round stage as blue light shone from above. While some first years chose to sit, others, like Skarlet and Topazu chose to stand. All around her, Skarlet noticed students from Vale as well as from Mistral, Atlas and Vacuo. For a while, Topazu clung close to Skarlet which would look rather odd; a tall, willowy nineteen-year-old standing close to a slightly shorter eighteen-year-old while the gathered students talked and joked. Suddenly, the sound of shoes on floor caught their attention as Velvet, the Faunus woman who greeted them on the airship via hologram and another, more dignified looking woman stepped forward. The woman appeared to be in her early thirties, she had vibrant green hair tied into a bun with a slight curl dangling to her left. Her eyes were black in color and she had a calm but at the same time stern look to her. She was dressed in a blue blouse with fringes as green as her hair. She wore what looked like high-heeled slipper shoes that clicked with each step and white stockings. Her symbol, decorated on the left hem of her skirt appeared to be a stylized emerald-green star with four points.

The woman stepped forward to the microphone and tapped it, the sound echoing off the speakers.

"Hello, my name is Professor Emrallta Ozpin. I'm sure you've heard about my father and mother. That being said, I'll keep this as brief as I can. My father used to have a saying; knowledge will only carry you so far, it is up to _you_ to take the first step. And I believe his words stand true to this day. Being a Huntsman or a Huntress does not mean you can pick up a weapon and kill a Grimm. It is much, _much_ more. That is why you are here: to learn what it truly means to be the Huntsmen and Huntresses of the next generation. It won't be easy. We do not baby our students nor do we go lightly on them. You will be pushed to your limits and should you not have limits, you will soon enough. You should know what you signed up for. If any of you wish to change your decisions, well... The airships leave in fifteen minutes."

As soon as she said that, she looked around at the gathered first years only to notice none of them had left. "Welcome to Beacon Academy."

With that she stepped down, allowing Velvet to take over. "Until we can assign you your own dorms, you shall gather in the ballroom to sleep. You shall begin initiations in the morning where you shall be assigned your own team."

That night, the first year students laid out their sleeping bags and fell asleep. That is, except for three. As she lay tucked up in her bag, Skarlet began to dream about the next day with excitement. She could just imagine what lay ahead. However, she felt someone poking her shoulder through her bag.

"Skarlet. Skarlet, are you sleeping?"

Recognizing the soft voice as Topazu's, the daughter of Ruby Rose groaned and rolled over to meet her cousin, clad in her topaz nightgown with the symbol of a not-quite bloomed flower stitched in its front that came to her ankles, her feet bare and fingers twiddling.

"I _was_. What is it, Topi?" Skarlet asked, rubbing her eyes at the interruption of her sleep.

Topi sat down cross-legged and sighed, "It's um, I, um-"

Skarlet propped herself on her right elbow and rested her chin on her hand, an eyebrow raised.

"Topi, use your words."

Topazu sighed, "I'm a little worried about the initiations tomorrow."

Skarlet chuckled, "Topazu, don't worry, Mom told me all about how she, Aunt Yang, Weiss and Blake went through their initiations: You're launched into the Emerald Forest by catapult, you come up with your own landing strategy and you have to collect a certain relic or something, all the while killing off... Grimm."

That's when it hit her. Yang must have _also_ told Topazu all about the Beacon Initiation process, which included killing any Grimm that got in their path. The Grimm were the reason Topazu was adopted in the first place.

"That's what you're afraid of, isn't it?"

Topazu nodded slowly. Skarlet gave her cousin a slight smile and scooted over to her left. "How about you sleep with me tonight, Topi. Don't worry, tomorrow, I'll keep you safe."

Topazu perked up puzzled, "Really?"

Skarlet shrugged, "Really. Remember when Mom and Aunt Yang allowed us to go out by ourselves on Shattered Moon Night? Same principles. Okay, maybe not the same, we're getting relics instead of candy but still."

Topazu chewed on her finger for a bit before slipping into her cousin's sleeping bag.

"Night, Skarlet."

"Night, Topi."

Meanwhile, two other girls couldn't find a place to sleep so they wandered searching for a place to lay out their bags. That is until they bumped into each other.

Kobalt, allowed her eyes to adjust to see whom she had bumped into. It was a girl, her age, with lavender hair tied into a ponytail, gray, slitted eyes and claws where her finger and toenails should have been. She was currently dressed in a long _yukata_ with a lavender cat's eye symbol on its front colored just like her hair that came down to her calves. Judging from the claws and slitted eyes, she was a Faunus.

Lavender, her eyes adjusted for the night, saw the person she bumped into: a girl her age with flowing, spiky cobalt-blue hair that came down to her waist, cold blue eyes, pale skin and a nightgown with a symbol colored like her hair that looked like a raindrop inside of a snowflake; a modified Schnee Dust Company insignia. Both girls held their eyes on each other until...

"Watch where you're going!" Kobalt snapped.

"Oh, _I_ can watch where _I'm_ going. Can't say the same for you, Schnee!" Lavender hissed.

"My last name's Vasilias."

"And that's supposed to change anything?"

"You _are_ aware the company's under new management right? My mom made sure of that!"

Lavender put her hand to her waste and gave a snide smirk. "Oh-ho, is that right? My mom's the reason why the White Fang doesn't exist any more."

Kobalt growled, "I _so_ hope we don't end up on the same team tomorrow."

Lavender's smirk disappeared in favor of a snarl, "Feeling's mutual."

With that both girls parted ways and stomped to the opposite direction, hoping to at least find a place to sleep for the night in preparation of the big day ahead of them.

 _"The path to becoming a warrior is not whether or not you succeed, Diamonda," her maternal grandfather told her, "it's whether or not you see yourself as fit to the challenge. Remember, you have Nikos blood running through you as_ well _as Arc blood. You are born into two families of warriors. Make your enemies remember that."_

"Diamonda! Diamonda! Hey, DIAMONDA!"

Diamonda Arc groaned as she slowly opened her aquamarine eyes to meet the grinning face of Magent Ren, fully dressed up in his armor and magenta hair in it signature spiky appearance. His armor had his symbol, a sparrow holding a battle hammer, on its shoulder.

"Nice to see you up and ready, Princess." he joked. With that, Diamonda stood up in her diamond-white nightgown and tied her silver-white hair into a ponytail, similar to that of her mother's.

"So, you ready for today?" Magent asked. Diamonda really enjoyed spending time with the son of Lie and Nora Ren. He did tend to joke but he relied more on subtle jokes than his mother.

Diamonda gave her childhood friend a smirk. "I'll be ready as soon as we eat."

After breakfast, the first-years gathered in the locker rooms to gather everything they needed; weapons, supplies etc. Skarlet laced on her cleated boots and swept her red robe over herself. She then pulled out Shadowed Rose from the locker it was stored in and tested it out to make sure it was working correctly. She extended it from its boxy, storage mode into its scythe mode, the first of the slender, red blades extending, The second blade at the bottom of the weapon popped out next. She twirled her weapon around for a little bit before turning into its rail-gun mode. After that, she put it back into its compact mode and placed on her back.

Topazu got out her weapon, two golden armblades called Ryu Fang. Each long, curved blade was designed to flip back and also hid a flamethrower fueled by four powdered red Dust cartridges all lined up like a revolver, eight in total. She then went to load the cartridges into her weapon and strapped each blade under her forearms.

Kobalt shifted her spear Myrtekaiser into its revolver/sniper mode and loaded each raw Dust rod into its chamber as this was the easiest (and only) way to reload. As soon as she was done, she flipped the top of the spear over the chamber.

Lavender got to work slipping on her wristblades/wrist pistols called Nightshade. She made sure each cartridge was loaded in correctly and set them into resting mode. She then cricked her neck left then right, hearing a satisfying _pop_ with each twist.

Unbeknownst to all four girls, one single thought ran through their minds.

 _Okay, time to prove what I'm made of_.

In a few hours, several first-years gathered near a cliff over-looking a large spanning forest. Skarlet recognized Topazu, but she also noticed several other first-years she had never seen before. The first was a girl a year older than her. She wore silver-white body armor she thought looked oddly familiar. The girl also had long, flowing diamond-white hair tied into a ponytail reaching down to her waist. On her back rested a basket of arrows and an intricately made bow. On her left shoulder plate was her symbol: an arrow shooting through a crescent moon. She currently had her crystal-blue eyes locked onto the forest ahead of her.

The next person she noticed was a boy with magenta-colored hair and body armor. He currently carried a large battle hammer that looked as heavy as it appeared and it was as long, if not longer, than he was. She couldn't see his symbol though.

There was another boy standing next to him which reminded her of a knight of Remnant's lost days with battle armor and reddish-brown hair wielding a flail that ended in four claw-like blades.

Finally, the last person (in this group anyway) was a rather interesting young woman of nineteen or eighteen. She was willowy, much like Topazu but she had an oddly threating air to her. She had desire hair tucked into a bun with a pin holding it in place as well as a coat made of what looked like bird feathers the same color as her hair. In fact, she _looked_ rather bird-like with the way she was standing, almost like a hawk about to swoop down on its prey. The clawed gloves she wore only added to the bird-like qualities of her.

Emrallta and Velvet were there to greet the gathered students, Velvet holding a large Scroll in her arms.

"This is the Emerald Forest. Here you shall begin your initiation test. You will be launched into the forest and are expected to devise your own landing task is to retrieve a several relics from an abandoned temple and bring them to the cliffs. However, this will not be easy as this forest harbors many species of Grimm. Do _not_ under any circumstances hesitate to fight back or else they _will_ kill you. The first person you lay your eyes on upon landing will be your partner. Any questions?"

The Headmistress of Beacon looked around to see no one raising their hands. "Very well, let's get started and good luck. Oh, and just one more thing, this will be your task alone."

With that, the bird-like girl was the first to be launched into the sky via the catapult platform underneath her, followed by the knight boy. As the numbers dwindled, Skarlet put her hand on her cousin and gave her a comforting smile. "Don't worry, I'll try to find you and keep you safe. Okay?"

Topazu responded with a slight smile and nodded. Skarlet then turned to the forest and dropped to a crouched position, a predatory smirk extending on her face. Then she was launched into the air, giving an enthusiastic whoop.

As the nineteen-year-old watched her cousin disappear beyond the horizon, she suddenly remembered she was next and soon she as launched into the air with a yelp.

Skarlet soared above the trees, cutting through the wind like a knife. She then closed her eyes and, in a plume of rose petals, teleported to the tree below her and shifted Shadowed Rose into its scythe mode. Using its blade, she spiraled down the tree, cutting a swathe of bark until she reached the forest floor. She then struck a pose, closing her eyes and extending her left hand into a fist into the air, a coy smile on her face. She felt rather victorious... until a loud buzzing noise filled the air. She opened her eyes to see the trees had circular protrusions underneath their branches as buzzing clouds began to emerge from them.

 _Rapier wasps!_ Skarlet mentally screamed as she began to run from the swarms of insects. As she ran for her life, she began to wonder how Topazu was doing.

In the skies above the Emerald Forest, Topazu screamed and flailed like mad as she sailed through the skies. However, she then noticed a rather large tree in front of her and flipped up her left blade. She extended the blade in front of her as it sunk deep into the bark of the tree. She removed her blade and noticed she had gotten it so deep into the tree it had sap on its tip. She then began to slowly lower herself to the forest floor.

As soon as her feet touched the grass after what seemed like two minutes of climbing down, she scanned her surroundings. Where was Skarlet?

"Skarlet!?" Topazu called out. She received silence as her answer. " _Skarlet_!?" she called even louder this time. Suddenly, the rustling of leaves from a bush to her left caught her attention. She wasn't alone, not that it gave her any comfort.

"He-hello?" the nineteen-year-old asked as she cautiously inched her way to the bush. "Is someone there?"

She received her answer, but it wasn't what she was expecting, or hoping for as a pair of burning red eyes stared right back at her and a blade-like arm the color of bone and pitch swung at her. With a yelp, Topazu jumped away as a praying mantis twice her size with a bone-white "mask" for a face emerged into view, its red eyes zeroing in on its meal. Her.


	7. Volume 1: Chapter 3: A Team is Born

**I. Don't. Own. RWBY.**

Chapter 3: A Team is Born

Righting herself back to her feet, Topazu extended her blades and glared at her attacker; a mantis-type Grimm called a Reaper. With a shriek, the Grimm charged forward, its front limbs swinging into attack position. Topazu rolled out of the way before both raptorial forelegs sunk into the soil. The Grimm shifted its gaze towards its intended prey and pulled its fore limbs out of the ground, charging at her. Topazu again rolled to the side, this time making sure one of her blades' tops had retracted, exposing the nozzles for her flamethrower. Her heart was beginning to pound and adrenaline had just now started racing through her blood. The Reaper turned its predatory eyes towards the girl and charged at her.

 _Perfect_. With that, Topazu, pointed her left blade's nozzle and pressed her thumb onto her handle's button. Within an instant, a plume of fire erupted from the nozzle, engulfing the Grimm as it screamed in agony. The Reaper flailed around as the fires cracked its armored carapace, exposing its soft internal body to the flames. With one final scream that split the sky, the Grimm collapsed with a thud.

Topazu, believing she was safe, decided to catch her breath as the adrenaline rush wore off. She could already feel like she was about to puke and her muscles were tightening up. However, she was not out of the woods yet. For suddenly, another Reaper emerged into view. This one was much larger than the last just by ten feet with bone-white spikes on its abdomen and thorax. The Grimm locked its eyes on its exhausted prey and raised its foreleg. Topazu readied herself into position... until she saw a cobalt-blue figure carrying a spear generate a rune on the bark of a tree, jump from it and sink her spear into the Grimm's thorax so deep its tip came out the other side. She saw the girl give a smirk before pressing her thumb on what looked like a hammer one would find on a revolver pistol and pulled a trigger. Before Topazu could even register what was happening, the girl pulled the spear from the Reaper's thorax and a sheet of jagged ice erupted from where the spear had once been, slicing the Grimm in two. With a squelch, the top half of the Reaper slid off and hit the ground with a resounding thud with both halves already beginning to dissolve into black particles that would eventually be carried off into the wind.

The girl jumped off just before the lower half began to disintegrate. It was at that moment, Topazu got a clearer look at the girl. She had a long braid of cobalt-blue hair that nearly came past her waist. She wore a pale blue bolero over a white dress with cobalt highlights. This extended into a skirt while she wore white and blue-highlighted pantyhose. On her feet were elevated boots the color of her hair. The girl had steel-blue eyes which currently glittered with pride.

 _She may not be Skarlet, but at least I have a partner_. Topazu thought to herself.

As she watched the Reaper fade into nothing, Kobalt began to have feelings of pride sweep through herself. She then turned around and saw her partner; a girl her age with long, flowing topaz hair, green eyes and a willowy figure dressed in a topaz-colored gown and slipper shoes with what looked like blades on both wrists.

"Ha-have you seen my cousin?" the girl asked.

Kobalt rose an eyebrow, "Your cousin?"

The girl nodded, her lip quivering.

Kobalt put her hand on the girl's shoulder, "My name's Kobalt, what your's?"

"Topazu." the girl answered.

Kobalt gave the girl a comforting smile. "Don't worry, Topazu, I'm sure your cousin's at the ruins by now waiting for you. That's where we need to go anyway."

Topazu swallowed before giving a small smile. With that, both girls ran off deeper into the forest, hoping to reach the ruins.

Skarlet could already feel like she was burning off more calories than she could count as she ran for her life from the clouds upon clouds of Rapier Wasps. Her heart was racing, sweat began to escape every one of her pores. That was until...

 _Oh, yeah, forgot I could do this!_ With that, Skarlet disappeared in a puff of rose petals and reappeared behind a bush three feet away from the swarm. As soon as she saw the swarm had passed, Skarlet let out a sigh of relief... only to receive a growl for an answer. With a chill running down her spine, Skarlet turned slowly... just in time to see a gigantic black mass emerge into view.

It was a reptilian Grimm, easily forty-feet in height called a Tyrant. It had a boxy, reptilian head with burning red eyes gleaming from a bone-white mask while its sleek, black body stood parallel to the ground, supported by two powerful, clawed limbs while a whip-like tail swung behind it. Its front-limbs were scrawny, vestigial things with only two claws each but its mouth obviously more than compensated for them with rows upon rows of dagger-like teeth.

Right now, the Tyrant had its burning red eyes locked onto the girl and saliva began to drip from its colossal jaws. Skarlet readied herself, switching Shadowed Rose into its scythe mode and lowered into a battle stance.

 _Not yet,_ she told herself, _Wait for the right moment_.

With a thunderous roar, the Tyrant charged, its mouth open and all its teeth, each the size of Drei, were pointed at her, the ground shaking with each footstep. Within moments, the Grimm's mouth was merely inches away from her.

 _NOW!_ With that, Skarlet disappeared, leaving rose petals in her place as the Tyrant's jaws closed over the empty space where she once stood. The Grimm snarled as it looked around for its would-be prey. Suddenly, the human it was attacking rematerialized above it, scythe in hand as she fell. With a grunt, the Tyrant swung itself around and smacked her aside with its tail, the impact sending her into a tree.

Skarlet groaned after getting the air knocked out of her. She was still alive due to her Aura, but one thing was for sure; she could not take anymore hits like that. With that, she stumbled back to her feet just in time for the Tyrant to come charging at her, mouth once again open with teeth exposed. Skarlet rolled out of the way just in time for the Grimm's skull to collide with the tree, breaking off the top half like a twig and sending it crashing down to the ground.

This gave Skarlet and ample oppurtunity to strike as she ran toward the reptilian Grimm and slashed its hide with Shadowed Rose. The Grimm roared more in frustration than pain as it turned to face the girl. With a snarl, the Grimm lunged forward only for its prey to vanish and reappear beside it.

Skarlet knew she couldn't keep using her Semblance, she already used up five of her teleportations and she had to save the last one for later. That was until something caught her eye as something (or rather some _one_ ) jumped into the air and slashed a piece of the Grimm's mask with a wristblade. The Tyrant roared as it lunged at the newcomer, only for her to shatter into pieces. In confusion, the Grimm looked around as another girl, identical to the last one hopped down from a tree and launched the blades on her wrists as cables which wrapped around the Tyrant's neck. The Grimm tried to buck the girl off but she still hung on tight.

Skarlet watched this only for the girl to notice her and frown.

"Well? What are you waiting for? Quit gawking and _take your shot_!"

With that, Skarlet readied Shadowed Rose and looked for a weak point on the Grimm, which she found in the form of its exposed neck. With a battle yell, Skarlet charged, leapt and in one swift motion, sliced the head from the Grimm just as the girl leapt off at the same time. As the headless Tyrant hit the ground, Skarlet finally managed to get a good look at her new partner. It was a nineteen-year-old cat Faunus with lavender colored hair in a loose ponytail and gray slitted eyes. She wore a tunic the same color as her hair with a catseye for a symbol. She wore black stockings that left her heel and toes bare, showing off that instead of nails, she had claws.

"Well, that could have been worse." she commented. The Faunus stuck her hand out as if waiting for something.

"Name's Lavender Wukong."

"Skarlet Rose." Skarlet replied returning her handshake.

"Rose? Hey, you wouldn't happen to be related to Ruby Rose of Team RWBY right?" Lavender asked.

"Well, yeah. I tend to call her mom."

"Really? Well, what a coincidence! We're two daughters of Team RWBY!"

Skarlet nodded with a forced smile. _She's supposed to be my partner? Okay_.

Suddenly, before Skarlet could say anything, a growling noise caught both girls' attention. They looked over the meet the eyes of snarling Grimm. At a first glance they appeared to be Beowolves, but really they weren't. Beowolves had a slightly humanoid look to them, looking almost like werewolves. These Grimm looked all wolf. These were Canis, and they were in the hundreds by now, all of them locking their twin pairs of eyes on the girls.

"Wanna run for the ruins?" Skarlet asked.

"Sure, why not?" Lavender shrugged.

With that, both girls ran off screaming as the horde of wolf Grimm ran close behind them, howling and snarling.

At the ruins, Topazu and Kobalt had just arrived to see that, apparently, the other first-years had made it. Each girl stepped up to the rotunda and found, resting on columns, were apparently the relics; baubles of either blue or red color all in a pattern. Topazu picked up a blue one while Kobalt, ironically considering her name, picked up a red one. However, Topazu noticed something. "Where's Skarlet?"

Before Kobalt could say anything, Topazu cupped her hands together over her mouth. "SKARLET!? SKARLET!? SKAR- _mmph_!"

Kobalt had taken the time to slap her hand over the girl's mouth. "Look, I get you're worried about your cousin, but try to remember we're in Grimm territory right now, okay? So please forgive me if I sound rude but _shut up._ " she hissed quietly. With that she removed her hand slowly. "What does your cousin look like?"

Topazu thought for a moment, "W-well, she has red hair with black tips."

Kobalt looked and saw something running toward them. It was clearly human, and it was a girl judging from this distance. "Uh-huh."

"She has a scarlet shirt with black and red stockings."

"Okay."

"She has black boots. Oh and she has-"

"A long red cloak with a hood?"

"Yes! How did you know?"

"Because I think I see her running towards us right now."

Topazu turned around just in time to see her cousin racing toward them. As soon as she came to a stop, she gripped the side of a column and worked to catch her breath.

"Skarlet!"

The daughter of Ruby Rose turned to see her cousin plow into her and hug her.

"Topi! Please, I'm tr-try-trying to catch my b-b-breath."

Topazu stepped aside for a moment to let her cousin breathe.

"Okay, breath caught." Skarlet announced before letting out a laugh and hugging her cousin.

For a moment, both cousins began laughing with joy and relief at each others' safety until Skarlet noticed the blue-haired girl standing watching this.

"This your partner, Topi?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, Skarlet, this is Kobalt. Kobalt, meet my cousin Skarlet."

Kobalt gave a slight wave and a small smile.

"So, where's your partner, Skarlet?" Topazu asked.

"She's-"

Suddenly, the three girls turned to see a cat Faunus stagger out of the trees, running low on breath.

"Well, _that_... was a good way to burn o-off cal-calor-calories." Lavender commented.

Suddenly, both Kobalt and Lavender looked up and recognized each other with frowning glares.

"OH NOT YOU AGAIN!" both girls yelled, "YEAH ME AGAIN!"

Skarlet, feeling somewhat awkward piped up as she took her place beside Lavender, "Oh, this is my partner. Lavender. Lavender, meet my cousin Topazu and her partner Kobalt. Kobalt and Topi, meet Lavender."

"Oh, yeah," Lavender snarled, "We met."

"Really wish we hadn't." muttered Kobalt.

"Guys, I really don't have to alarm anyone but we got-" Skarlet started.

"What's the matter, _Princess_? Didn't get what you wanted?"

"Neither did you, dingbat!"

"You _said_ you didn't want me to be part of a team, didn't ya?"

"You should have been watching where you were going last night!"

"Oh, I did!"

"And why should I believe you?"  
"BECAUSE I'M A CAT FAUNUS, YOU OVERLY PAMPERED MORON! OUR EYES ALLOW US TO SEE IN THE DARK!"

"Uh, girls. We really don't have time for this." Skarlet squeaked. Topazu then looked over to see what her cousin was referring to and she slowly walked to the arguing girls. At that moment, Skarlet became a little bit unnerved because she knew what was going to happen next.

Just as both girls continued arguing, they paid no attention to Topazu up until she grabbed the backs of both their heads and clonked them together.

"OW!" screamed both girls, "WHAT!?"

Topazu pointed to whatever it was behind them and both girls turned only to be greeted by a horde of Canis Grimm in the hundreds.

"Yeah, that's kinda what we were gonna warn ya about, hehe."

Before Kobalt could say anything to either Lavender or Skarlet, Topazu met the girl eye-to-eye, her own having taken on a slight reddish tinge. "Look, the only way we get through this alive is as a team. So swallow your pride and work together," she turned her gaze to Lavender, "Which means you too, _got that_?"

Lavender and Kobalt looked at each other before nodding and assuming their battle stances.

Skarlet and Topazu assumed their own battle stances as well just as the Canis charged like a tidal wave of black, white and red.

The first wave was met with Topazu's blades as they cleaved through them like knives through hot butter. Any stragglers were cut into pieces by Shadowed Rose. The second wave came next, this time, hoping they could make up for the mistakes made by their fallen brethren.

It was at that point, Kobalt had shifted Myrtekaiser into a sniper rifle and lay down on the grass, eye peering through her scope. She pulled the hammer down and fired a plume of red Dust out the barrel which ignited and setting the Canis ablaze. Meanwhile, Lavender sliced apart the Canis with Night Shade, turning her blades into bladed whips which she used to wrap around their necks and decapitate them. She then proceeded to turn her blades into wrist pistols and shot any Canis in the head.

Skarlet and Lavender then raced to the temple while Kobalt and Topazu held off any and all Grimm that tried to get past them and snatched up their own relics.

"Okay, got them. Now what?" Lavender asked.

Skarlet thought for a moment until an idea popped into her mind. "Topazu, Lavender, Kobalt, gather up around me and hold tight!"

As soon as she said that, the rest of the girls gathered up around her and locked arms, just as the other Canis began charging at a blink of an eye, all four girls vanished into a puff of rose petals and reappeared on the cliff, each holding a red or blue bauble. Immediately all girls collapsed from post adrenaline rush in a pile only to hear the sound of clapping. They looked up to see Emrallta clapping her hands slowly while Velvet looked at them with what could only be seen as relief.

"Well done, girls. You have successfully acquired the relics. Report to the amphitheater to receive your team name." Emrallta told them before walking off.

Back at the amphitheater, the gathered first-years were assigned their teams. The first group consisted of the red-haired boy, a dark-skinned girl with short black hair, another boy with a small ponytail and ginger hair and a eucalyptus haired girl with long hair covering her left eye, all of which were dressed in knight armor.

"Rouge Winchester, Umbra Shade, Michael Ginger and Eucalypta Vernal, you shall be named Team RUGE, led by Rouge Winchester for receiving four blue baubles." Emrallta told them, pronouncing their team name as "rouge".

The next team consisted of the diamond-white haired girl, a boy who, if you excluded his navy blue hair, looked just like Umbra in male form, the magenta-armored boy and the bird-like desire-colored girl.

"Diamonda Arc, Magent Ren, Naveen Shade and Desiree Falcos, for retrieving three red baubles and one blue bauble, you shall be known as Team DMND (pronounced 'diamond'), led by Diamonda Arc."

 _Arc? Oh, that's why she looked so familiar. She's Juane and Pyrrha Arc's daughter_! Skarlet thought to herself. She then saw Velvet motion her and her group up to the podium to which they did.

"Skarlet Rose, Kobalt Vasilias, Lavender Wukong and Topazu Xiao Long, you have retrieved two red baubles and two blue baubles. You shall be known as Team SKLT." Emrallta announced, pronouncing their team name as 'scarlet'. Instantly all four girls began to gain thoughts about their partners for the next four years at Beacon.

 _Wait, did she just say 'Rose'_? thought Kobalt.

 _Did she just say 'Wukong'_? Topazu thought.

 _Did she just say 'Vasilias'_? Skarlet thought.

 _Did she just say 'Xiao Long'_? Lavender thought.

It was at that moment, the members of the newly christened Team SKLT realized they were all daughters of Team RWBY about to follow in the footsteps of their mothers. This was going to be an interesting four years for them.


	8. Volume 1: Chapter 4: Class is in Session

**I. Don't. Own. RWBY. Roosterteeth. Does.**

Chapter 4: Class is in Session

She had trekked what felt like miles until she reached her destination; it was a run down-looking house, two stories in height, barred windows and an altogether unpleasant nature to it that made it stick out like a sore thumb among the otherwise welcoming autumn forest. To her, it was something much more. It was the place she was born. The woman heard several growling noises behind her as she turned to face multiple pairs of glowing red eyes. She stuck her hand out in front as though saying "No, not yet. Not yet." With that, the growling eased as the woman came closer to the door, memories of pain and cruelty entering her mind. She knocked the door twice.

"Who is it? What do you want?" a gravelly, vaguely female voice demanded.

The woman gritted her teeth and narrowed her eyes. Even after all these years, her voice still grated on her.

"Who do you think it is, you hag? Who else would even _think_ about coming back to someone as Oum-forsaken like you?"

There was a brief silence before the door opened, revealing a woman in her late sixties, her once brown hair turned white and an always cruel expression on her face that looked like it belonged more on a person angry at the world.

"Oh, so you decided to come back, eh, girl?" she asked haughtily.

The younger woman gritted her teeth even tighter at the elder's tone. It would be even more satisfying, all things considered, when she committed the deed.

"I have a name, remember? I think you should remember by now, Mother. After all, it was the name you _gave_ me."

Her mother narrowed her eyes, "Don't you raise your voice with me-"

"Or you'll _what_? Hit me? Lock me in the closet like some animal with no food or drink for three days? All those things you did to me as a child? Why else did you think I left this wretched place to begin with!?" the woman snarled, getting into her mother's face.

Her mother frowned, "Then why did you even come back here at all? If this was such a hell, why come back in the first place?"

The woman chuckled, "To tie up loose ends, hag."

"What does that mean?"

"I found a new family, old woman. All I need to do is get rid of the remnants of my past, which includes _you_. Let's just say... I'm seeing things in a new light." With that, the woman pulled back the dark violet hair in front of her eyes, revealing something that made her mother gasp and stumble back; a bone-white mask, almost like the top half of a skull, her nightshade-colored eyes peering from its sockets. It was the mask of a Grimm.

"M-m-monster!" the old woman cried out as she tried to get away only to hear the sounds of growling as plumes of black covered the windows, the only light coming from glowing red eyes. She looked back to the door to see two large black bodies flank her daughter who stood there laughing softly.

"Monster? Me? No. The only monster around here, is the one in human skin, the one who betrayed her child's trust. And do you know what happens to monsters, hag? They... disappear."

With that, the woman gave a gesture and Beowolves began to flood into the house. As she walked away, she could hear the sounds of her mother screaming only to be drowned out by the howls of her new family.

The alarm clock in Team SKLT's dorm was first heard by the keen ears of Lavender. She sleepily blinked her eyes before stretching/yawning in a fashion all too similar to a cat. She then realized what time it was and her eyes widened.

"Guys! Guys! Wake up! Classes are gonna start!" Lavender screamed. She was much louder than her alarm clock. Almost instantly, she was greeted with her roommates groaning as they were roused from their dreams.

"I thought cats _like_ sleeping." Kobalt commented, receiving an eye roll from Lavender. "Cat _Faunus_! Huge difference. Now, come on, we gotta eat, we gotta get ready! First class day in Remnant!"

Knowing there was no use arguing with her new teammate, Kobalt groaned and prepared to start the day while Topazu looked over their scheduled classes, all of which were decorated with letters resembling each member of SKLT:

8:00-8:50 am: Physics (L), Math (S, K), History (T)

9:00-9:45 am: Grimm Studies (S, K, L), Swimming (T)

10:00-10:45 am: Sparring class (S,K, L, T)

10:55-11:15 am: Cooking (S, T), Literature (K, L)

11:30- 12:00 pm: Physical Education (S, K, L, T)

"Okay, the time right now is six 'o clock, so we have plenty of time before our classes start." she told the others. Her roommates nodded as they prepared to get the day started.

After breakfast, the four girls went to their individual classes. First up for Lavender was Physics class which she nearly blew up by mixing together two wrong chemicals. For Skarlet and Kobalt, it was math to which Kobalt was fully invested in while Skarlet decided to take thirty winks off only to get waken up by Kobalt after she tapped her leading to a face plant on her desk and randomly shouting "24! No, wait... 25!"

At nine o' clock, Skarlet, Kobalt and Lavender sat down and listened as their teacher told them about the inner workings and weaknesses of certain species of Grimm while Topazu had to be convinced to come out of the changing room at swimming class, something Kobalt was strangely adamant about trading with her.

This all culminated in all four girls gathering in the amphitheater with Teams DMND and RUGE in the room as well. As Skarlet and her team waited for their teacher, she heard the leader of Team RUGE, Rouge Winchester, walk up to her, a smug look on his face.

"Well, if it ain't the daughters of RWBY. I am _truly_ honored." The sarcasm and arrogance was far too deep and evident to go unnoticed.

Skarlet rose an eyebrow and crossed her arms. "Can we help you, Rouge was it?"

Rouge smirked, "Well, I'd like to know why you decided to _now_ step out from your mommy's shadow, little Rose."

Topazu looked at Skarlet as she suddenly froze, her eyes wide. She began to get nervous as she noticed her cousin twist her mouth into a snarl and narrow her red eyes.

"You. Take. That. Back." she growled slowly, her hands closing into fists.

"What's the matter, Rose? Did I strike a nerve?" Rouge continued to taunt her much to his team's obvious disapproval.

"Please. Strike some more. I _dare_ you." Skarlet snarled, getting into the knight's face, her red eyes meeting his dull blue eyes.

Rouge chuckled, "If you insist-"

"Glad you could make it, class." A loud, male voice interrupted the two team-leaders' argument, bringing relief to both Topazu and the rest of Team RUGE.

A large male figure stepped up to the podium. He was a man in his late forties, a man who, if one were to ignore the stub of red hair on his chin, looked almost like a spitting image of Rouge right down to the same hair cut. However, his armor looked much fuller with intricate ornate details and on his back rested a mace with a similar claw pattern to Rouge's flail. He studied the gathered teams, hands clutched behind his back.

"Welcome to sparring class. My name is Cardin Winchester. I'm sure you've already met my wife Velvet." began the knight. Skarlet then noticed Rouge's face dissolve into what could only be seen as anxiety. To see that smug look get wiped off his face was oh so cathartic. She turned her attention back to her teacher.

"Let me just make one thing understandable: I am not here to train babies or make favorites. My job is to see what you can do and sculpt and fix you if I see a problem. All I ask is to see if you truly have what it takes to be a Hunstman or a Huntress. You thought the Emerald Forest was all it took to convince me? That was just a scavenger hunt. _This_ is where you truly hone your skills. So, with that being said, who would like to go first?"

Skarlet popped her hand up until it was noticed by Cardin. "I'll go first."

Cardin rose an eyebrow before shrugging. "Alright, Miss Rose. Pick your opponent.  
Skarlet smirked as she turned her eyes toward Rouge who had a genuinely shocked look on his face. _Shadow of my mom, eh? I'll show you what this 'shadow' can do._

"I pick... him."

Rouge scoffed, probably trying to make himself look tough to her, and stepped up to the podium. Both pulled out their weapons; Skarlet with Shadowed Rose and Rouge with his flail.

"Let's see what you've got." said Cardin as he stepped aside for the two.

"Begin."

With a battle cry, Rouge charged first, swinging his flail at his target. Skarlet chuckled and, moments before the flail collided, vanished into a cloud of roses and reappeared behind him. "How's this for a shadow of my mom?" she yelled before delivering smacking him with the butt of her scythe.

Rouge stumbled for a bit, stars flashing in his eyes before growling and swinging his flail at her again, only for her to disappear again, this time to his side and swung her legs out in a scissor kick, knocking him off balance and hitting the podium with a loud _clank_. Skarlet was so in tune with her fight, she could barely hear her team cheer her on. Just as Rouge got back on his feet, she chuckled and charged forward, spinning Shadowed Rose until it was a blur. However, Rouge swung out his flail which wrapped around the scythe's pole and he started dragging it, and in consequence, her towards him.

 _Oh, so_ that's _how you wanna play, huh? Well, I'm game_. Skarlet thought and she smirked as she planted her cleats into the podium and pulled her weapon towards her while Rouge pulled it towards him. For a while both combatants stood like that, like a bizarre game of Tug-of-War. That was, until Skarlet smirked and disappeared, the momentum from the flail becoming undone causing Rouge to stumble to allow Skarlet to reappear and hit him again with Shadowed Rose.

She then took the time to watch her opponent try to regain his footing leaning on Shadowed Rose with a smug smile on her face. "What's wrong, Rouge? Can't hit a girl?" she taunted

When Rouge recoverd, he snarled and glared at her. "Alright, this ends now, twerp!" he roared.

"End?" mocked Skarlet, "Aw, but we just started."

With a roar, Rouge swung his flail into the air and brought it down, a wave of fire coming straight at her. Before she could teleport in time, the fire slammed into her and she rolled onto the podium with a groan. Just as she was regaining her footing, she could see Rouge walking towards her, flail in hand, a cruel smile on his face. She got back to her feet and narrowed her eyes at him. He swung his flail again, this time Skarlet allowed the weapon to wrap around hers and once again they were in the Tug-of-War state. With a yell, Rouge pulled his chain towards him, only to realize his mistake a little bit too late as his opponent's booted foot came swinging upwards and connected with his jaw, sending him sprawling to the ground on his back once again and Skarlet landed gracefully, her team wildly cheering her on. This time, she noticed and bowed dramatically. "Skarlet Rose is the winner!" Cardin announced. However, Skarlet didn't notice as Rouge rose to his feet, flail in hand, growling like a mad-man advancing on her. Skarlet was too wrapped up in her victory she didn't notice her teammates' cheers turning into shouts just as her opponent swung the flail at him... only for a mace to come in between them both. She snapped out of her stupor to see Rouge standing in shock, his flail wrapped around Cardin's mace with Cardin himself giving the knight a fearsome glare.

"I also forgot to mention one other thing, Class: We're not here to _kill_ anyone." He emphasized 'kill' toward Rouge. "Rouge, you and I need to have a bit of a chat."

Rouge cast his head down and sighed, "Yes, Dad."


End file.
